Preme Apreme : Kobi Shankha Ghosh/ প্রেমে অপ্রেমে : কবি শঙ্খ ঘোষ

Abstract

In the history of the post-modern Jibanananda Das written Bengali poetry (1932-2021), Sankha Ghosh is a distinct pioneering poet. In modern Bengali poetry he is regarded as an artistic and naturalist poet giving a reflection of his creative mind through his poetry. In his poetry a coexistence of love and apathy is noticed. The poet's love centralizes in optimism whereas apathy to him is restlessness, despair and pessimism. During the post-independent social and political decadence and economical breach, in the midst of negativity in Bengal, the poet gives the message of hopefulness. Shouldering the liability of a poet he wanted to lead all, along the path to liberty. Remaining between contemporary tensions, the poet has ignited his values among the mass. In his poetry, there is an establishment of new self-possession in love-protests, forgiveness- attacks and devotion-anger. The poet has never restrained himself to use his mighty pen to attack the anarchy in society and culture, both abode and abroad. The love and the ignorance in Sankha's poetry have progressed swayingly. The poet did not want to be impersonal. Instead, being inspired by individual consciousness he expressed the stark reality as realistic. On the ground of this unambiguous truth, he has sowed the seeds of light and also grown crops. Through his free words Sankha has not only expressed love but he has also stated his views on indifference. The reality of love and the love of reality have mingled together in his poetry. The experience gathered by him every moment has sped up his poetry. In his creation, there is a feeling of full-hearted love and on the other hand, there is his screaming loneliness. His poetry exhibits a soft version of romanticism. The poetic mind of Shankha Ghosh is always aware of the repercussions of all the socio-political events of the day. Whenever he needed words to express his thoughts about the mayhem in the society, his inner-self came forward and provided him the voice. Finding ardent self-absorption of controlled emotion in his poetry many critics have compared him to Rabindranath Tagore but his choice of words, sharp satirical language and description of sound have uplifted him to the status of the most modern poet of his time. After being bound to the guillotine of the doctrines of religionsand casteism the helpless men got entangled in the snare of slavery. Ideologies change with time and the leaders change too but the common folk remains plunged in the same darkness. Joy of living gets erased from their life. From time to time, they get lured of enjoying a stable economic status. Instead, they become victims of famine and an ambience of revolt gets created. The worst sufferers in these conflicts are the common folk. The theme of his poetry gets created from the poet's personal gains and losses and hopes and despairs. His simple and lucid language became the words of despair and the voice of protest. Throwing the spotlight on anxiety Sankha has illuminated the lamp of love.